Sitko Agency

On the days that I feel discontented and struggle, I refocus and remember to count my blessings. I am often reminded in life how fortunate I am despite my struggles. It doesn't discount my feelings when times are tough but it does help me put things in perspective. It helps to limit how long, that I sit in the suck.

On our company meeting this afternoon, we heard more about how Western North Carolina was impacted by Helene.

The headquarters is in Swananoa, NC. You may have remembered seeing pictures of homes with water all of the way up to the roof. One of our two buildings there was fully engulfed in water to the roof while the other was less severe. The conference chairs were washed down the block as windows and doors did not hold up to the water pressure.

The founders of our company live in the area and have the financial benefits of running a company. They have been active in the rebuilding efforts of the town including providing physical funding, orchestrating relief efforts and getting their hands dirty to clear trees to open roads. These wonderful leaders were already working on building a sense of community in the town which is why they created a non profit to support that cause. It pivoted to provide relief after the storm.

They shared that on their way to work, they passed tents where people were living. Still in living in the midst of a natural disaster, they talked about being prepared for the the unexpected. They did not think their area was at risk for a natural disaster. The conversation flowed into ways to pivot when bad things happen on the business side of things.

The ironic thing is that is exactly when the company specialized in providing for people. We offer life insurance policies that often have living benefits (which are financial back up plans for you when you are alive) in addition to the death benefit.

If you can, please help the areas still working on recovering from the flooding and appreciate the good things of life.

Work worry-
When someone cancels their appointment to set up a life insurance policy. I pray nothing happens to them until we can reschedule. It's happened to colleagues and is heartbreaking. The last hurricanes have shown us how quickly lives can be turned upside and even end prematurely.

https://sfglife.wistia.com/medias/jtdq52cwj8

Get to Know Symmetry Financial Group (2024)

If you only know me virtually, you might be surprised to learn that in person, I am quiet and prefer not to share much about myself and my life.

That all changed when I learned that my family most likely had been affected by PANS/PANDAS. We use alternative health modalities that focus upon the whole body verses a diagnosis, labs and symptoms.

I was determined to spread the word about this illness. Here I was a special education teacher having worked with people with disabilities since I was 18 and had a graduate degree in positive behavioral supports and yet, I did not know about this illness. I was compelled to do something about this! I was so fortunate to find professionals who guided without judgement and family & friends who supported me.

My personality is always hopeful, seeing the gifts that challenges gave and feeling grateful for the small things on the hardest days. This illness made it very hard for me to remain myself as it taxes your nervous system. If it weren’t for my amazing supportive family, friends and professionals, I know that I would not have been able to have gotten to this point where PANs is not the focus of every moment of the day.

In recent years, PANS symptoms healed but we were left with deep scars that needed healing. I have been focused upon healing the scars and bringing purpose to my pain.

I have dreamt for many years about having a non-profit to support people like me. People who want to or need to heal with holistic modalities. Regrettably, funds often run out or the option is not even able to be considered. Respite is nearly impossible for many families. There is a non-profit that offers low cost retreats for families but I was unable to attend because no one was available to offer respite. I find this so frustrating. Because I needed to focus upon healing the scars and exposures to water damaged buildings, I have not been able to work towards making this dream become a reality.

In my experience as a sibling of a child with cancer, a daughter of individuals with Lyme, Special Education Teacher, Behavioral Therapist, caregiver of someone with Down syndrome, aunt of one with ADHD, as a solo mom who has migraines, allergies, extreme sensitivities & mold sensitivity and finally PANS, all families who have a member who has a disability, illness or trauma experience need support.

I am done waiting for the perfect time to make this happen. I have interacted with so many people who need this now more than ever.

Families who are exhausted and have children who have suffered all of their life with this illness and now are adults with adult sized challenges.

Families who have many children and are trying to balance a disability with the other children’s needs in an effort not to create a glass child.

Families who can barely take a breath and care for themselves because the caregiving takes every moment of their day.

Solo parent families who are exhausted with no hope of relief in sight.

Families who are terrified and waiting on the results of the next test, the next treatment, the next approval by insurance.

So, I have decided that now is the time.

My first phase is to set up what I need to create a non-profit and obtain the education, credentials, legal documents, fundraising and support people. I also have been offering families a framework that I created to calm your nervous system so that everyone heals or stays healthy in a beta test model.

Next, I would like to build a strong fundraising program. In addition to providing grants to families, I would like to create a turnkey framework to support families to do some fundraising on their own. It is my hope that we would foster a pay it forward culture in which families that we help return in the future and help to fund others in the future.

Siblings in these situations are often overlooked. If you have every heard of the term glass child, this is when the healthy (or healthier) children become almost invisible because the needs of the ill child or children overtake the family’s focus. Families need resources and support to be proactive in supporting siblings.

I would love to create communities where we can make a holistic lifestyle simple. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could pick up our children from day care, school or activities from the same location where we see a holistic provider, pick up natural remedies, purchase food from local farmers, grab take out and purchase household items that support a clean lifestyle.

I dream of providing resources for families impacted by toxic mold who often have to start from scratch and leave most of their belongings behind as they try to find a new safe mold free home. Healing from mold is complex and can take a long time for some. It’s exhausting and literally drains every bit of resource and energy. I would love to help families find new safe homes and provide grants for healing.

In the future, I hope plan to study different modalities and even attend naturopathic med school. This would enable me to truly understand how different modalities work. I hope to be able to offer ways to guide families in selecting what modalities match their needs.
This resource is needed as there are not many objective resources for information.

And so, I need your help to get started….

I have partnered with Better World to help me fundraise start up costs for creating Paths to Healing Foundation!

To start, I have created a very short 50/50 Raffle Giveaway Contest. We will be giving away half of whatever is raised this week to one lucky winner. Maybe you will win some cash to help with that back to school shopping, get that thing that you have been wanting to buy but it’s out of the budget or even start Christmas shopping early! I hope to be able to get the basics to start up taken care of with this contest.

I have also created an option to offer ongoing sponsors. I am working on some great ways to say thank you to those who step up to become the founding donors of the foundation. I will be sharing those things in future posts.

You will get a receipt for your records from Better World. Once we receive it, I will share our id number for tax purposes and the receipts from Better World will be updated.

Links to both options are in the comments.

I am so excited for how this is going to impact families and future generations.

Thank you for reading this and thank you in advance for your support.